We forgot how to be curious
50 travel conversation cards for curious humans.
- 50 cardsreal photos, one question each
- 21+ ways to playgames, prompts, rituals
- English & Dutchtwo separate decks
- a travel-ready tinslips into any bag
“Something nice to just have in my bag, and pull it out when the timing is right.”
Try 8 cards tonight
8 real cards from the deck, with the questions on the back. Print them double-sided and cut along the lines. English or Dutch.
Download the free cardsWe've outsourced our attention to algorithms. Replaced eye contact with scrolling. Paper Trails is a small, analog rebellion that invites warmth and curiosity one prompt at a time.
📍 The tin
Made to come with you.
Paper Trails lives in a custom-printed tin. Durable enough for a backpack, beautiful enough for a coffee table. Made to age well in your hands.
Field notes
Solid build. The lid fits nice and snug.
📍 The cards
50 prompts. Tarot-sized. EN or NL, your pick.
Standard tarot size card dimensions (7 cm × 12 cm) with travel photographs on the front and the prompt on the back, in English or Dutch. Premium card stock with a soft-touch finish, made to be shuffled, dropped, traveled with, and loved.
Field notes
Beautiful enough to leave out, durable enough to travel with. The grain catches your fingertips before you read the prompt. A small grounding, every time you pull a card.
The rules fit on one card.
Pull one. Pull 3. Pass the deck. Answer for yourself, or for who you were 10 years ago. Each tin includes a folded guide with 21+ suggested ways, and an invitation to make up your own.
Solo journal
Solo journal
Quiet nights, slow mornings with the kettle on.Pull one card.
Write your answer in a notebook, or sketch, or collage. Whatever feels right.
Dinner party
Dinner party
Phones in a basket by the door.One card per course.
Whoever reaches for their phone reads the next one.
Train rides
Train rides
Long rides, sabbaticals, slow time on the move.Tuck the deck in your bag.
Pull a card during the quiet hours, or one a day into your travel journal.
First date
First date
New faces, first hangs, the small-talk barrier.Agree on 2 or 3 cards before you start.
Answer in words or sketches, whichever feels easier.
Couples check-in
Couples check-in
Slow Sundays. Phones in another room.Pick a card for each other.
Take turns choosing. Stay with the answer a while.
Long walks
Long walks
Solo wanders, slow afternoons with a friend.Tuck the deck in your bag. Walk until somewhere asks you to sit.
Pull a card. Let the answer come.
Picnics
Picnics
Blankets on the grass, somewhere with a view.Tuck a few cards in the basket.
Pull one between bites. Pass it round the blanket.
Hostel lobby
Hostel lobby
Study abroad, new jobs, fresh expat days.Pair off. 2 cards per pair.
Switch partners and run the same cards again.
Coffee shop
Coffee shop
Catch-ups, walks, anyone you've missed.Pull one card. Let the answer sprawl.
Stay with it for as long as the coffee's warm.
Travel pen pal
Travel pen pal
Friends and family across time zones.Pull a card. Send a photo to someone you miss.
Answer in your own time. Swap by voice note or postcard.
Group of strangers
Group of strangers
Airbnb guests, expat dinners, new neighbours.One card to start the meal.
Host answers first. The tone follows.
Classroom warm-up
Classroom warm-up
Teachers, language classes, youth groups.One card at the start of class. Share in pairs.
Doodle the answer if the words aren't there yet.
+ 9 more ways inside the tin ✨
The four decks
A whole world of cozy conversations.
Paper Trails grows in 4 chapters. We're launching with Wanderings. The rest will follow.
Wanderings
Drift through streets and wild places. Notice the everyday moments unfolding around you.
flip for a prompt →
A sample prompt
You're hiking a new trail. An animal appears up ahead. Best case, what is it? Worst case?
Flavors
Café orders, street food, and the tastes that help make a place feel alive.
flip for a prompt →
A sample prompt
You step into a bakery just as a fresh tray of cookies comes out of the oven. What kind of cookies are they, or what kind are you hoping for?
Stories
The unexpected conversations, memories, and moments you pick up along the way.
flip for a prompt →
A sample prompt
You pass a window with a cozy table inside. Who do you imagine sitting there with you, and what would you talk about?
Glimmers
Small joys and tiny pockets of cozy found in the everyday.
flip for a prompt →
A sample prompt
If the lights were dim and the night was quiet, what kind of music or movie would you choose, and why?
Roll 03 · 2021 to 2024
glimpses from the road.
We took the long way here. In 2023, Alex left her job and traveled the world for a year. Somewhere between a quiet café in Denmark and the rugged edges of New Zealand, she started noticing the moments that stayed were the conversations. With her friends, her partner, even total strangers.
"If the lights were dim and the night was quiet, what kind of music or movie would you choose, and why?"
Taylor's road came with moving boxes: Germany, then a tiny village here in Friesland, now Oslo. Every move meant building home from scratch. And every home started the same way, with a full table and everybody bringing a dish from their country.
"You pass a window with a cozy table inside. Who do you imagine sitting there with you, and what would you talk about?"
Different roads, same lesson: the conversations are what you keep. Paper Trails is the deck we wish we'd had on the road. A quiet invitation to look up and actually meet the person across from you.
"You're hiking a new trail. An animal appears up ahead. Best case, what is it? Worst case?"
Wherever you go next, we'd love to ride along.
Save my spotWhy now · 2026
The phone became the buffer.
we're putting it down.
Somewhere along the way, the screen became the easiest thing to reach for at the table. We've done it too. Everyone has.
Paper Trails is a small, tactile way back. A card you pull, a question you pass around the table, a conversation that stays with you longer than anything you scrolled that day. Analog, on purpose.
Not ready for the waitlist? Print 8 of the cards for free, read the Paper Trails questions in the FAQ, or wander through the library.
Real humans, real conversations.
From our beta circle of 50 testers across the US, the Netherlands, and beyond.
50 beta testers · 4 countries
“I can see playing this with longtime friends or family. People you've known forever but haven't discussed these types of moments with.”
Beta tester · US
“Something nice to just have in my bag, and pull it out when the timing is right.”
Beta tester · US
“I felt nostalgia and inspiration when I first read them. It even feels like escaping for a while.”
Beta tester · NL